1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a key handshake method in a wireless local area network (LAN). More particularly, the present invention relates to a key handshake in a wireless LAN which is capable of performing an authentication process with one key handshake between two wirelessly connected stations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An ad-hoc mode or an infrastructure mode is generally used for a Media Access Control (MAC) layer according to IEEE 802.11. In the ad-hoc mode, more than two mobile stations (STA) recognize each other and establish peer-to-peer communications without using existent infrastructure. However, the infrastructure mode has an Access Point (AP) for data broadcast among all the connected mobile stations. The AP and the mobile stations form a basic service set (BSS) which communicates on an unlicensed radio frequency (RF) spectrum.
In the BSS mode, a 4-way handshake is used, which means several key exchanges are necessary for the authentication. Therefore, the authentication process is lengthened, and a method for reducing authentication time between a supplicant and an authenticator is required.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved key handshake method in a wireless local area network (LAN) capable of performing an authentication process with one key exchange between wirelessly connected stations.